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New Zealand Minister for Trade and Export Growth: RCEP could boost NZ-India trade

Currently, all players in the New Zealand to India trade are hoping that politicians will leverage the Regional Comprehensive Economic Agreement (RCEP), which includes ten countries of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) grouping. The India New Zealand Business Council signed a landmark agreement with the ASEAN New Zealand Business Council at an event in Auckland on Friday.

Batting for the RCEP as the way forward was the New Zealand Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker. Parker used the term ‘pluri-lateral agreement’ to describe a trade deal that countries with a common interest would forge to benefit all parties involved, such as RCEP. As well as the ten ASEAN countries, RCEP includes New Zealand and India besides a few others.

“RCEP has the potential to be a high quality partnership agreement, mutually beneficial to India and New Zealand,” Parker said. He stated that the people from New Zealand needed to be convinced that trade agreements actually work. NZ’s FTA with China is a case in point: trade volumes have touched $10 billion both ways.

At $2.6 billion, India is New Zealand’s tenth largest trading partner. As well as trade in goods, services was also growing and has increased by two-and-a-half times than what the volumes were six years ago, Parker said.